Mushroom Stacking

While used for centuries in the traditional medicine of many cultures, functional mushrooms are having a moment in Western herbal medicine with exotic varieties capturing the popular imagination. This is because, being rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds, they can assist people to feel and perform better. The trailblazing mycologist, author, entrepreneur and perhaps, most famously, the protagonist of the 2019 documentary Fantastic Fungi, Paul Stamets, touts the benefits of mushrooms saying: “Mushrooms are food for the body and medicine for the soul.” The colloquial term “mushroom stacking” refers to the enhanced benefits from combining medicinal mushrooms to increase overall health outcomes. Stacking adaptogenic mushrooms can create a synergistic effect, amplifying the benefits of each mushroom. 

The growing interest in microdosing psychedelics was the genesis for the practice of stacking, which involves combining microdoses of psychedelics, primarily psilocybin-containing mushrooms, with other substances that are purported to accentuate the beneficial effects. In fact, the Stamets Stack is named after Paul Stamets who has been credited with introducing the concept of stacking. The eponymous Stamets Stack includes lion's mane, niacin (vitamin B3) and the active ingredient psilocybin (which in Australia is Schedule 9 (prohibited drug) except for prescription for authorised prescribers). Stamets claims that the combination of psilocybin and lion's mane has the ability to support the development of new neural pathways (neuroplasticity) and also repair existing neurological damage. 

The use of such admixtures appears to have a long history. Aztecs combined cacao with psilocybin mushrooms in a practice referred to as cacahua-xochitl, which literally means chocolate-mushrooms, and psilocybin admixtures composed of honey, flowers and herbs have been noted in historical records among both Indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. Mushrooms, henbane (also known as nightshade, Hyoscyamus niger), stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) and other active substances were commonly added to enhance the effects of beer during the Middle Ages. Chocolate and cacao remain popular additions to psilocybin, whereas adding Syrian rue (Peganum harmala), lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus) and/or niacin appear to be a more recent phenomenon. 

The Herbal Extract Company’s mushroom stacking is focused on the practical use of this concept as it applies to functional mushrooms without the hallucinogenic “magic” properties. A popular combination for focus and cognition includes cordyceps (Cordyceps militaris), lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus) and reishi (Ganoderma lucidum). It offers support for energy, brain health and stress support all at once. The results of a 2019 systematic review of in vivo studies suggest that dietary supplementation with lion's mane, reishi and cordyceps mushrooms may have a beneficial effect on cognitive impairment however further clinical research studies are needed. 

References

Plotkin M. The Mushroom Moment. Herbalgram. The Journal of the American Botanical Council. Winter 2024;139:36-41

Rootman JM, Kryskow P, Harvey K, Stamets P, Santos-Brault E, Kuypers KPC, Polito V, Bourzat F, Walsh Z. Adults who microdose psychedelics report health related motivations and lower levels of anxiety and depression compared to non-microdosers. Sci Rep. 2021 Nov 18;11(1):22479. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-01811-4. PMID: 34795334; PMCID: PMC8602275.

Nkodo A. A Systematic Review of in-vivo Studies on Dietary Mushroom Supplementation for Cognitive Impairment (P14-021-19). Curr Dev Nutr. 2019 Jun 13;3(Suppl 1):nzz052.P14-021-19. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzz052.P14-021-19. PMCID: PMC6574952.